Bag opening and emptying machine



Dec. 9, 1969 E. J. MQR|A-R-T 3,482,718

BAG OPENING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Fi'led Feb, 7, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet lENVENTOR EDWARD J- ORIARTY Dec. 9, 1969 E. J. MORIARTY 3,432,718

BAG OPENING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 7, 1968 s Sheets-Sheet 2 F lG 2 INVENTOR EDWARD J- MOR RTY ATT NEY Dec- 9, 1969 E. J. 'MORIARTY N3,482,718

BAG OPENING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 7, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5United States Patent 3,482,718 BAG OPENING AND EMPTYING MACHINE EdwardJ. Moriarty, 8821 Kenwood Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 Filed Feb. 7,1968, Ser. No. 703,769

. Int. Cl. B65g 65/34 US. Cl. 214-305 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention I Thepresent invention relates to material handling apparatus, and moreparticularly to a machine for opening bags or sacks and emptying thecontents thereof into another receptacle, which machine is animprovement over the machine disclosed in US. patent application, Ser.

.No. 673,762, filed Oct. 9, 1967.

Summary of the invention Accordingly, an object of the present inventionis to provide such a machine which assures rapid and complete emptyingof the bag.

Another object is to provide such a machine wherein fouling of the bagwith bag supporting means is prevented.

A further object is to provide such a machine which is simple andeconomical in construction and reliable in operation.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects aregenerally accomplished by providing a bag opening machine whichcomprises a pair of spaced apart bag engaging and supporting members,knife means operable between the members for slitting the underside, andmechanism for raising the bag supporting members to thereby fold the bagand expedite the emptying of the bag. Preferably, the machine includesmeans for engaging and pulling the bag apart at the slit to provide anenlarged opening which enables material to be discharged from the bagmore rapidly.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a plan view of a bag openingmachine in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the machine illustrating the position of thebag supporting members when the bag is placed thereon.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the machine as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an end view similar to FIG. 2, partly in section, illustratingthe bag supporting member in raised position to expedite emptying of thebag and the means for enlarging the bag opening in operated position.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings indetail, a bag opening machine and emptying machine is shown whichgenerally 'ice comprises a frame 10, a basket or hopper 11 supported onthe frame, a pair of spaced apart members 12 on the hopper forsupporting a bag 13 filled with free flowing material above the hopper,knife mechanism 14 operable between the members 12 for slitting theunderside of the bag crosswise, means 15 for engaging and pulling thebag apart at the slit to enlarge the bag opening, means 16 for raisingthe bag supporting members 12, mechanism 17 for operating the means 15and 16, mechanism (not shown) for vibrating the hopper and the bag toinduce the flow of material from the bag, and mechanism 18 for ejectingthe emptied bag.

The frame 10 comprises an upper rectangular frame member 20, an uprightleg 21 at each corner of the frame member, a horizontal shelf 22 on eachleg beneath the frame member, a hemispherical yieldable member 24 imeach shelf, and horizontal members 25 for bracing the egs.

The hopper 11 comprises an upper tubular section 26, a lower conicalsection 27, horizontal extensions 28 on the upper hopper section, andhemispherical yieldable members 29 on the underside of the extensionsseated on the yieldable members 24 to resiliently support the hopper onthe frame whereby vibration of the hopper is facilitated.

The bag supporting members 12 are a pair of plates having a plurality ofspikes 30 thereon for gripping the bag 13. The lower ends of the platemembers 12 are secured to spaced apart parallel shafts 31 which havetheir ends journalled for rotation on the wall of the upper hoppersection 26 so that the plates can be raised and lowered in an arcuatepath in the manner described hereinafter.

The knife mechanism 14 includes a knife 32 on a holder 34 which ismounted at one end for rotation with a shaft 35, an air operated motor36, and linkage 37 for effecting oscillation of the shaft 35 so that theknife is swung through an arc and slits the underside of the bag at S.

The means 15 for pulling the bag apart at its slit include a pair ofspaced apart parallel horizontal rods 38 within the space between theshafts 31 with each rod adjacent a shaft and having their endsjournalled for rotation on the wall of the upper hopper section 26, andspikes 39 on the rods 38 for piercing and engaging the bag adjacent bothsides of the slits so that the bag can be pulled apart in the mannerdescribed hereinafter.

The plate member moving means 16 include a sprocket 40 on the shafts 31,a sprocket 41 on the rods 38 and a chain 42 connecting each set ofsprockets 40-41.

The mechanism 17 for operating the means 15 and 16 includes a piniongear 44 on the rods 38, a gear rack 45 engaging the gears 44, and an airmotor 46 for reciprocating the gear rack to effect rotation of theshafts 31 and the rods 38 in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions.

The ejecting mechanism 18 includes an elongate member 47 disposedcrosswise beneath the bag at its slit, a shaft 48 journalled forrotation on the frame and having the member 47 mounted thereon near oneend thereof, a reciprocating air operated motor 49 mounted on the frame10, and linkage 50 connecting the motor 49 and the mounted end of themember 47. Preferably, the member 47 has two parallel spaced apartsections 51 between which the knife 32 passes.

In operation with the plate members 12 in their lower position (FIG. 2)and resting on rails 52, the vibrating mechanism (not shown) is started,a bag B is dropped on the plate members 12 and is penetrated by thespikes 30 and 39, the knife mechanism 14 is operated to crosswise slitthe underside of the bag, the spikes 39 are rotated from an uprightposition to a depending position (FIG. 4) and pull apart the bag at theslits to form a wide opening in the bag, and simultaneously the platemembers are swung to an almost upright position.

The material in the bag is rapidly discharged through the opening at itsunderside into the hopper 11. When the bag has been emptied, the platemember spikes 30 and the spikes 39 are returned to an upright positionto enable the bag to be lifted therefrom without fouling the spikes, andthe ejector mechanism 18 is operated to raise the elongate member 47 toan upright (indicated in broken lines) to throw the empty bag to theside of the machine. The ejector member 47 is then returned to itsinitial position so that the machine is ready for the reception of thenext bag to be emptied.

The spikes 30 and 39 serve to hold the bag against movement while thebag is being slit. The spikes 39 also peel back the bag portionsbordering the slit. The spikes 30 also hold the bag to prevent thecollapse thereof while being emptied. The plate members 12 uponconverging as being raised fold the bag transversely with respect to itslongitudinal axis and serve to squeeze the material out of the bag.These features together with vibration assure complete emptying of thebag in less than ten seconds.

It will be understood that the operation of the various mechanisms iscontrolled by timing and programming means, for example, such asdisclosed in the aforementioned patent application.

Summation From the foregoing description, it will be seen that thepresent invention provides an improved bag slitting and emptying machinewhich is simple, practical and economical in construction and is rapidand reliable in operation.

I claim:

1. A bag opening machine of the class described comprising a pair ofspaced apart bag engaging and supporting members, knife means operablebetween said members for slitting the underside of the bag, mechanismfor raising the bag supporting members to thereby fold the bag andexpedite the emptying of the bag a pair of rotatable rods adjacent theslit having spikes thereon for engaging and pulling the bag apart at theslit to provide an enlarged opening which enables material to bedischarged from the bag more rapidly, and means operable by saidmechanism for effecting rotation of said rods.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said bag supporting membersare plates having bag gripping spikes thereon which plates are pivotallymounted at their inner ends and said mechanism swings said plates froman almost horizontal position to an almost vertical position and viceversa.

3. A bag opening machine of the class described comprising a pair ofspaced apart bag supporting members, constructed and arranged to lay alargest side of a bag thereon, pivotably mounted knife means betweensaid members operable for slitting the underside of the bag crosswise,means for engaging and pulling the bag apart at the slit to provide anenlarged opening which enables material to be discharged from the bagmore rapidly, and mechanism for operating said last mentioned means.

4. A machine according to claim 3, wherein said last mentioned meansinclude spikes mounted on rotatable rods, and said mechanism efiectsrotation of said rods.

5. A bag opening machine of the class described comprising a pair ofspaced apart rotatable shafts, bag supporting plates each having itsinner end secured to one of said shafts and having bag gripping meansthereon, a rotatable rod inwardly adjacent each of said shafts havingbag engaging spikes thereon, knife means operable between said rods forslitting the underside of the bag, and mechanism for rotating saidshafts to swing said plates from an almost horizontal position to analmost vertical position and vice versa so that the bag is raised andfor rotating said rods to swing said spikes from an upwardly extendingposition to a downwardly extending position and vice versa so that thebag is pulled apart at the slit to provide an enlarged opening wherebyrapid and complete discharge of the material in the bag is assured.

6. A machine according to claim 5, wherein said mechanism includes apinion gear and a sprocket on each rod, a gear rack for effectingrotation of said gears, a sprocket on each shaft, and a chainoperatively connecting each set of rod and shaft sprockets.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,306,426 12/ 1942 Bundy 2143052,930,501 3/1960 Cotterell 214--305 3,224,609 12/1965 Dietert 214305HUGO 0. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner

